Classic Forum, PLEASE tell me about Luis Rodriguez

I've only seen a couple of his fights, both at MW, not considered his prime. He seemed to have good bolo style punches in close, good body work, kind of like Gavilan, but also a good jab. Placed his punches pretty well. I'll watch him more closely, or see if I can't get any better footage.

 

His loss to Benvenuti at MW is on Youtube. The other fight I saw was footage of his fight with Denny Moyer, but it's on a private account on Youtube, you have to send the guy a friend request to view it.

Here's the account:

[url]http://www.youtube.com/user/Duquesne122780[/url]

 

i have seen his fight with denny moyer and he sure could punch. el feo was no joke........one of the true greats. maybe bettert than gavilan.

 

Nah, I wouldn't say that, at least based on the limited footage I've seen.

 

His resume is INCREDIBLE in regards to whom he fought, and beat. He was movement, movement, movement, & more movement. Quick, boucy, & busy. Loooong arms, & of course, that huge NOSE.

He really took out Denny Moyer. Great clip.

His reign was stalled by his four series against Emile at his absolute prime, with each fights being razor thin close. He was as good as Gavilan, Napoles, SRL, Griffith(as he proved), & etc. in my view.

Highly overlooked welterweight great.

 

Huge praise, but it's not out of the question, given how well he performed against Griffith. I'll have to get my hands on those fights.

 

Rodriguez- Briscoe X2, Benton, Carter X2, Mims, Moyer, Griffith, Giambra, Cokes, Rondon, Bahama X2, Paret X2, etc.

Gavilan- Williams X2, Basilio, Graham X3, Lausse, Davey, Bratton X4, Turner, Dykes, Williams, Janiro X2, Jack, Castellani, etc.(sure I missed a few)

Napoles- Muniz X2, Lewis, Lopez X2, Cokes X2, Griffith, Backus, etc.

I've always though Napoles had a lesser resume quantity-wise than the other top WW's, though still very good. I rate him so highly based more on footage and the skills he showed. Based on the above I'd say Gavilan reigns supreme, and thus ranks higher on my ATG list than the others for that reason.

 

I used to watch him a lot on home TV back in the 60's.

At welter he and Griffith were "equal".

He split a couple of fights with Curtis Cokes which my National Guard C.O. & his manager told me about.

 

Due to the state of Cuba during that time period, there was an influx of Cuban boxing talent. Made the era that much more rich in the quality level of opposition.

Not as much as footage as one would like compared to say Emile or Dick Tiger from that time period, but it's out there.

The Griffith/Rodriguez series sort of gives credence to my personal view on how CLOSE some of these hypothetical matchups would be between great vs. great. Granted, they fought each other four times!

 

I just watched his second fight with Griffith in its entirety and it was one of the best boxing displays I've ever seen. He schooled Griffith on the outside and on the inside. Had it 11-3-1 in terms of rounds for Rodriguez. Griffith was landing the harder shots, but was getting heavily outscored by Rodriguez, who was throwing great flurries throughout.

Griffith looked much better in the third fight, but I've only seen 7 rounds of that fight, so I can''t judge the winner there. It looked fairly close though (had it 3-3-1 from the seven rounds I saw). I'll have to try and get their third fight complete. Their series is a fascinating one.

 

I thought only the second fight was available?.I had that one about 10-5 for Luis.Great fight indeed.

I have about 20 minutes or so of highlights as well, but had always assumed it was just the same fight and never bothered to watch it.

He looks damn good beating Yama Bahama on cuts as well.

Griffith usually led a charmed life in close fights.Amazing how many calls all went his way.

Rodriguez and Laguna were very similar in style in a lot of respects.